Class action lawsuits filed against Charter, Comcast for response to recent service outages in Western Massachusetts

View full sizeRepublican file photoA crew from Charter Communications repairs downed lines in Wilbraham following a wind storm in June.

SPRINGFIELD – A local law firm on Tuesday filed a class action suit in Hampden Superior Court against two major cable companies, Charter Communications and Comcast, charging each with “gouging” their customers by not automatically giving credit or refunds for lengthy service outages following the recent snowstorm.

Each suit is filed on behalf of three plaintiffs, but as Morneau pointed out, the action covers “all persons residing in Massachusetts” who are customers of either company and who lost service during the recent outage but did not receive a credit, refund or bill adjustment.

With each company reporting 600,000 outages following the Oct. 29-30 storm, the total number of plaintiffs could potentially reach 1.2 million.

At issue, Morneau said, is the way the two companies require customers to apply for refunds for lost service. He said the companies should automatically credit customers for lost service, rather than “making them jump through hoops to get it.”

Cable bills charge in advance for future service, while other utilities like electricity, natural gas and oil heat bill for service already delivered.

An electric customer, for example, is not charged for power during an outage because no power was delivered.

With cable, customers are paying up front with the expectation that service will be delivered, he said. When it is not, customers are entitled to get their money back or receive a credit, he said.

“If you pay for a service and you don’t get it, the company can’t keep your money,” he said.

Officials at Comcast could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Comcast spokesman Daniel M. Glanville on Monday told The Republican the company’s policy of requiring people to call in to request a refund for lost service meets and exceeds state law. Refunds are handled on a case-by-case basis because outages lengths vary from location to location, he said.

A spokesman for Charter Communications said the company could not comment until its lawyers reviewed the complaint.

The Charter action was filed on behalf of Bruce M. Cooper of 12 Abbey Lane, and John W. Romito of 64 Kibbe Road, each of East Longmeadow, and Roy L. Baker of 43 Sandra Road, Easthampton.

AP photoComcast trucks parked outside a service call in Pittsburgh in this May file photo.

Mihalak, 63, a retired South Hadley resident, said he signed on as a plaintiff against Comcast because he had grown tired of years of spotty service and dealing with what he called indifferent customer service representatives.

The last straw was the most recent storm, which knocked out his cable television for six days.

“But when the bill came, there was nothing taken off, there was no explanation,” he said. “It was just ‘pay your bill.’”

He heard there was a lawsuit in the works and was directed eventually to Morneau, where he willingly signed on as one of the plaintiffs. He said he does not expect much in the way of a settlement, maybe just few bucks off his bill.

But if it sends a message to a major corporation that it needs to treat its customers better, it will be a worth it, he said.

“I’m just tired of being taken for granted and having nowhere to go complain about it,” he said. “It’s time for the little guy to take on Goliath.”

Cooper expressed the same frustration about his Charter service.

He lost power for four days during the outage but his cable, television and telephone did not come back on for five days after that. To top it off, no one from the company could explain why or give him an estimate for when it would return.

The company’s response to the outage was “really pretty pathetic,” Cooper said.

He said does not expect much from the suit, maybe “a small sum of money.” Mostly what he wants is for the company to be more responsive to its customers and to automatically issue credits for future outages.

Cooper, who works as a ticket broker, said “If I don’t provide a service, I can’t expect to be paid for it.”